Toreador Says Production Halted at Black Sea Operations

Toreador Resources disclosed that over the weekend production in the South Akcakoca Sub-basin (SASB) project in the Black Sea offshore Turkey was shut down by system operator TPAO (the Turkish national oil company), due to damage to the pipeline spur running to the Akkaya platform. At this time there does not appear to be any damage to the rest of the SASB pipeline system.

Underwater inspection reveals that the Akkaya pipeline spur has been separated at a pipeline flange and displaced approximately 20 feet from its original location. The likely cause was that a fishing boat, which was trawling through the exclusion zone around the platform, lifted the pipeline and caused the separation. An incident report filed by a fishing boat early Saturday morning with Turkish port authorities ties in with the initial assessment. As the likely cause is covered by insurance, cost of the repair work should be reimbursable subject to any deductibles.

Senior members of Toreadorís technical management team are on location along with local office management to provide support and improve communication with the damage assessment team and the system operator. Toreador will issue a further update when the full extent of the damage is known.

Toreador management believes that the companyís cash position at the end of the year will still be in excess of $20 million, as higher oil prices in France are expected to partially offset the effect of lost production in Turkey.